Tenured teacher who was fired from District 150 files lawsuit

Saturday

Aug 18, 2012 at 12:01 AMAug 18, 2012 at 5:03 PM

One of the tenured Peoria School District 150 teachers fired this spring because of an unsatisfactory evaluation has filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court, claiming the district failed to consider her disabilities before she was dismissed.

Pam Adams

One of the tenured Peoria School District 150 teachers fired this spring because of an unsatisfactory evaluation has filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court, claiming the district failed to consider her disabilities before she was dismissed.

Eymarde Lawler, then a special education teacher at Trewyn School's Day Treatment Program, says, according to the lawsuit, that her unsatisfactory evaluation stemmed from post-traumatic stress disorder and other disorders brought on after she witnessed two gunshot victims immediately after an attempted murder near Trewyn in August 2011 and after she was seriously injured by students.

A week after the shooting, she was assaulted by a student at Trewyn. Suffering from a concussion, she had to be taken from the school by ambulance.

Lawler is one of 10 tenured teachers fired in the wake of new state regulations that allow school districts to bypass seniority rights in work force reductions. So far, she is the only one to file a lawsuit.

Deficiencies in Lawler's February 2012 evaluation arose out her PTSD, major depressive disorder and acute stress disorder, according to her attorney, Richard Steagall, who filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court.

District 150 granted Lawler medical leaves after she witnessed the shooting vicitims and after assaults by students exacerbated her condition.

When a woman in bloody clothing got out of the vehicle screaming, Lawler opened the door and saw the two bloodied victims.

Her rotator cuff was injured after an assault by a student in February.

Lawler and her attorney charge that the district ignored medical recommendations to transfer her to a classroom of students with less violence-prone disabilities, which forms the basis of the lawsuit.

The school district's failure to accommodate her disability resulted in her unsatisfactory evaluation, Steagall said. The lawsuit also alleges the district retaliated against Lawler for reporting her disability and requesting a transfer.

Maintaining her in a position she was not qualified to teach violated her rights and her disabled students' rights, according to Steagall.

Lawler had been employed by District 150 for 10 years, gaining tenure after three, which gave her sufficient seniority to avoid the layoff, according to the suit. She had worked at Trewyn for one year.

"Obviously, we completely disagree," said Stan Eisenhammer, attorney for Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick and Kohn, the Arlington Heights-based firm that represents the district.

Lawler's disabilities didn't factor into her evaluation, Eisenhammer said. Either way, he added, her disabilities are not protected under the American Disabilities Act or the Rehabilitation Act.

Lawler, who earned $56,000 a year, is asking to be reinstated to her job as a tenured teacher with back pay, benefits and $1 million in compensatory damages.

Pam Adams can be reached at 686-3245 or padams@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @padamspam.